Old Familiar Shoes - Part 1

Once upon a time, a young girl (23, so not so very young) met a boy. It was a chance meeting as he was only in the area for a short while and really, it was his friend whom had gotten her attention in the first place. If it were a movie, you would insert a vignette of the two talking as the world passed by because that night, at least in her case, they only saw each other. They went on one date before he had to go back to school, and it was less than a month before he flew her out to see him.

Six months went by with 3000 miles between them. They had 3 brief intense visits in that last semester of grad school. But there were mostly hour long phone calls in the dead of the night. Graduation, then summer came. Long distance took its toll as did the daunting task of him finding a job. They began fighting. Most calls ended in her crying. Even as they were planning on him coming back to California and moving in together, she began to see the beginning of the end.



Finally, while he was on the long road back, probably somewhere in Oklahoma, she broke up with him. On the phone. At the time she thought she was saving her sanity, that the fighting would continue when he got back and that they were doomed anyway. He never called. Not once. She saw him one time, a few weeks after his return. It was awkward and they didn't discuss a thing. She put on a brave face and acted as though his presence didn't matter.

The years went by. Once in a while, perhaps every 2 years, she would Google his name. It was combination of curiousity, care, and a touch of 'what if' that had her typing the letters into the search queue. She knew, had always known that he would eventually go back to his native country. One day she was proven correct as he popped up on Facebook.

She debated. Should she add him? Would it make any difference 8 years later? She was a different person now. A single mom, a writer, less idealistic and a lot stronger. Instinct had her moving the mouse over that  'add friend' icon and it was done. She'd let him take it from there. Something had urged her to search him out over the years. Now she had to wait and see what, if anything, he would do.